State jobs picture moves past recovery into expansion, experts say

By Kirk Ladendorf

Employers in Texas and Austin pushed wage and salary job totals into record territory in February, according to a Friday report from the Texas Workforce Commission.

Texas added 27,900 jobs during the month, giving it a gain of 331,800 nongovernment jobs in the past year, for a gain of 3.8 percent. But a statewide loss of 57,900 government jobs over the past year held the total job expansion for the state down to 2.6 percent.

Austin added 8,900 jobs during the month, giving it a gain of 25,800 for the year, for a 3.3 percent growth rate....

Economist Bernard Weinstein with the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University said the February job numbers for Texas reflect "impressive growth."

"We are doing much better than the U.S. job market," Bernard said. "It conforms with the pattern we have seen over the last 40 years. When the nation takes a hit, we are not hit as hard, and when the national economy starts to recover, we typically grow at a multiple of that."...